I enjoyed making this one.
It was quite satisfying as I went from not being able to solder a darn thing last week to not being able to put a foot wrong this week.
I’m going to have to commit this one to memory as I tend to go straight to complete despondency when something in the studio goes wrong and take to the sofa vowing never to make jewelry again.
It’s exhausting, let me tell you.
P just rolls his eyes now which kind of bugs me because I totally mean what I’m saying at the time.
I’m just so misunderstood.
All I ever wanted was love, attention, and a good, strong cup of tea.
Here’s a simpler piece waiting to be finished.
Sooooo
I got this macro lens for Christmas.
Because, as this nifty little gadget twists straight onto your iPhone, I thought, Hey! I need to get me one of them things.
Brilliant.
And so Santa got me one.
Bless him.
And because sometimes I have to wait a while to get my head around new things I only opened the box yesterday.
Now I know what the term macro means.
I do.
But for some reason I thought that this lens would do its macro thing magically whilst I wasn’t looking and as I was taking the photographs the way I normally do.
After struggling a bit actually putting the lens on because, heavy-handed and impatient as I can sometimes be, I thought I’d snap some vital piece of it off and have to swear, I was a little disappointed to find that I’d been sent a defective one.
So I swore anyway.
Because the fact that the lens was completely out of focus couldn’t possibly be my fault.
Who knew that you had to actually put the lens right up close to the jewelry.
I mean so close that the cup on the end of it was practically touching the table.
I had to stoop so low that I nearly put my back out.
I wasn’t tremendously impressed at first although I did get to see that I really do need to stop cutting myself and start taking more care of my hands.
Maybe.
(I had to make this really small as it was shockingly real and scared me each time it popped up on the screen… weak heart.)
So here’s one of my jewelry.
The thing I haven’t worked out yet, if indeed it’s possible, is how to take a photograph in focus without the lens having to be right on top of the subject and so not being able to get more of it in the picture.
Also.
Dam’ I’m going to have to be good if I want to use this lens and not see every single mistake on my work.
I mean could it get any more in your face…
Now I’m not sure if I’m can use it that much, which is a shame as I really want to, and it was expensive, so I’ve decided I’m going to have to play with it more to figure it out.
Or just go find some stationary insects to gross me out and, despite my revulsion, become the next David Attenborough of the macro world.
Could happen…
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You could use it to take pictures of other things, like flowers, or lichen, or blades of grass, or water droplets, or interesting mystery textures and start a whole new creative sideline. Or you could just use it to have the one obligatory arty farty so-close-up-it’s-useless photo of your jewelry (you’ve probably seen those Etsy jewelry shops where ALL the photos (although terribly artistic and intriguing) keep you asking “But what is it?”) Sometimes those closeups work nice as a lead photo, to draw people in.
Yeah, I’m not sure I’m ‘into’ the farty look 🙂
Bees’ wings are really lovely under macro…. On the other hand, my hands (on a good day) are not fit to be in front of a camera. Your test shots do focus on details that are worth having a close-up look at, though I need to see jewelry in some sort of more realistic perspective, too, if I’m going to fork over money and not just gawk at it. Have fun playing with the new periscope… and improving on how to position the uh-oh details so only you can see ’em. 😉
What I really need is someone to model them on. I think it’s really hard buying jewelry and not seeing it on someone. I guess I need to come out of the studio more and make some new friends to photograph…
The insects usually walk into the field unnoticed… I believe the out-of-focus of part of the picture is a feature of macro photography, unfortunately. At least it used to be, with old film cameras, and both the half-decent digital ones I’ve had. This might change along with new ways to process images, I’ve understood, but don’t hold your breath…
Do as Keirsten says, and use it sparingly — I use my half-decent macro only occasionally too (like when I want half of the piece, or the background,to be out of focus 🙂 ).
Bumblebees are cute too, if you can get them to stay still…
Yes I agree. I think the out of focus is a part of the whole thing. It was just so funny seeing everything so close up in all its glory 🙂 Unfortunately I haven’t seen many bumblebees here for years. I know they must be around somewhere 🙁